Dayton City Paper

Dayton City Paper
Type Alternative newsweekly
Format Tabloid
Owner(s) Independent
Founded 1993
Language English
Ceased publication September 2018
Headquarters 126 N. Main St. Suite 240.
Dayton, OH 45402
 United States
Circulation 18,570± weekly
Website daytoncitypaper.com

The Dayton City Paper was an alternative newspaper emphasizing arts, culture, entertainment and a little politics, published weekly and distributed throughout the Dayton, Ohio metro region. The first edition of the paper was published on August 26, 1993 under the name The Dayton Voice. In the early 2000s, the paper's name was changed to Impact Weekly due to legal pressure from the nationally known alternative newsweekly, The Village Voice. On April 3, 2003, the paper was renamed the Dayton City Paper. In September 2018, the Dayton City Paper ceased publication unexpectedly.


Editorially and visually, the all-color Dayton City Paper reads much more like a local niche magazine than it does a typical alternative weekly. Whereas many alternative newsweeklies across the country tend to take political sides and emphasize subculture lifestyles, the Dayton City Paper tends to focus on arts and culture with special consistent emphasis on performing and visual arts, music of nearly every genre, film, epicurean features including dining, wine and beer, literature, the environment, social issues, politics, and entertainment. In addition to over 80% locally written content, the publication also features a carefully selected roster of quality syndicated content well appreciated by its eclectic and educated audience including Amy Alkon's "The Advice Goddess", Chuck Shepard's "News of the Weird," Cariel's "Sign Language Astrology," the New York Times Sunday Crossword, as well as weekly editorial cartoons including Don Asmussen's "Bad Reporter," and Donna Barstow's "Daily Special," and satire by Ted Rall. The paper's staff and freelance writers authoritatively deliver the editorial quality readers demand. Readers especially enjoy the weekly locally driven "debate forum" where opposing writers argue in a true debate format in favor or against political and social issues of the day.

The DCP also partners with regional towns with highlighted events and issues in monthly features entitled "Destination: Yellow Springs," "Destination: Troy," and "Explore Miamisburg." Similarly, and in recognition of the extraordinarily popular strength of the regional visual art community, the DCP also presents a unique monthly special insert section called "Art Everywhere" highlighting visual art related events, organizations and artists.

The paper can be found free every Tuesday at over five hundred pickup locations within the metro Dayton region including areas as far north as Tipp City / Troy; West in areas such as Trotwood, West Carrollton, and Miamisburg; East including Springfield, Yellow Springs, and Xenia; and as far south as Springboro / Franklin. Specific pickup locations can be found on the DCP website.

The DCP website DaytonCityPaper.com delivers nearly all editorial content online in addition to "page-flip" versions of the printed paper by clicking on the back-issues button.

On April 25, 2015, the official website of the Dayton City Paper was hacked by unknown individual or individuals claiming to be affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The site's homepage played foreign music, displayed picture of a masked man holding an apparent assault rifle and displayed the message "Hacked by Team System DZ. I am Muslim & I love Jihad. I love ISIS <3."[1] On January 20, 2015, the Dayton City Paper chose to approximate via illustrated parody the cover of the January 14 issue of Charlie Hebdo following the Charlie Hebdo shooting[2] and the paper's publisher, Paul Noah, stated that he suspected the hacking could be related.[1]

The Dayton City Paper published its final issue on September 11, 2018, with the next issue unexpectedly not appearing on the next scheduled publication date of September 18. The next day, it was reported by several of the paper's writers that the paper had ceased publication, and the same day the newspaper's official website transitioned to provide only an archive of past issues.[3] The next week it was revealed that one the newspaper's employees, Wanda Esken, to whom manager Paul Noah had entrusted daily operations, had been indicted on three charges of grand theft and one charge of forgery in relation to her activities in the paper. Noah contacted police after being told by the company which printed the Dayton City Paper that he owed about $35,000 in back payments and from his landlord that he was four months behind on rent. Although the paper was able to remain afloat for several months with Noah contributing thousands of dollars of his own savings, ultimately he was unable to prevent it shutting down. He stated that prior to the scandal the paper was thriving, with plans to expand into Lexington, Kentucky. He plans to continue to maintain the online archive, as well as working with the Dayton Metro Library to establish a print archive.[4] Writers for the paper expressed shock and sadness at its closure.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Newspaper site hacked with pro-ISIS message: Dayton City Paper homepage comprised tonight". WHIO-TV. April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Dayton City Paper January 20, 2015 issue". Dayton City Paper. January 20, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Amelia Robinson and Mark Fisher (September 19, 2018). "Dayton City Paper shutting down, writers say". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  4. ↑ Robinson, Amelia (September 26, 2018). "Dayton City Paper owner: 'It was a lot and a lot of money, and it's gone'". WHIO-TV. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
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